25.11.09

Necessary Roughness, Week 11 in the NFL


NR presents

Necessary Roughness Presents, Week 11 in the NFL:
Boss Hog and his Jets feel disrespected that the Pats didn’t take them serious and only beat them by 17 points


where...

…the Colts break out the Santi Clause in their game plan!
…Vince Young has the entire AFC South feeling a little queasy!
…the Chiefs pound the Steelers with the ground game, wait…what?
…the Raiders beat the NFC North leading Bengals, wait…double what?
…the Vikings prove they are an elite NFC team by beating the Seahawks!
…the Jaguars are somehow AFC wild card contenders! Worst 6-4 team ever!
…the Pats looked genuinely disappointed to only score 31 points on the Jets!

…beyond belief!


1st and 10…

The Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions played in, what has to be thus far, the game of the year. This game pretty much had everything, including a bogus defensive pass interference call on a Hail Mary at the end of regulation. To be clear, there was defensive pass interference on the play as it was called, but Megatron was also busy transforming into a backpack on his defender and the play was a Hail Mary! Come on! That kind of garbage is never called on a play like that in a game like this. Of course, Matthew Stafford did get his shoulder popped out of socket on the play, and since an NFL game cannot end on a defensive penalty and a player must leave the game for a play if they have caused an injury timeout, the Lions had the ball and goal with no time left on the clock and one play to win the game with an Antarctic iceberg-cold Daunte Culpepper under center. Only, Cleveland Browns soon-to-be-fired head coach Eric Mangini calls a timeout to game plan (which he should have done during the injury timeout) and subsequently allows Stafford back in to the game to throw the game-winning touchdown with an arm dangling at his side like a shark-attack victim. He looked like Luke Skywalker at the end of Empire Strikes Back when he ran back to his sidelines after the touchdown. It was a big day for a kid who just wanted to go into town to get some power converters. Cheer up though Cleveland, this loss virtually guarantees you of the first pick in the NFL draft (which he Browns will probably use on either Tim Tebow or a long snapper, but still).

Week 11 of the 2009 season may best be known as the week of sideline in-fighting. Brandon Marshall, being the team leader and consummate professional that he is, berated rookie Knowshon Moreno grill-to-grill for a goal line fumble until Moreno finally had to push him away. Also, train-wreck-in-coverage cornerback Terence Newman and longtime coaching moron Dave Campo (Cowboys secondary coach) had to be separated on the sidelines after a play, though both later laughed it off. Newman presumably because Campo is a moron and Campo because Newman—like many Dallas Cowboys—is not an apt professional football player, and it is unfair to hold him to such lofty standards.

Sure, Brett Favre has been a compelling story so far this season, but I have heard way too much “Brett Favre is the MVP of the league” talk, and it is really distressing to hear terms like “clear-cut favorite” and “odds-on favorite” being tossed around as well. Ridiculous. Favre isn’t even the MVP of his team. That would be All Day and the way he forces defenses to stuff 11-22 men in the box to not contain him. I would also listen to you if we were both drinking at a bar and you started rambling on about how Sidney Rice could be the team’s MVP for how he accelerates to catch over-thrown Favre bombs and how he takes short passes long to the house. I would. So Favre comes up second, possibly third on his own team for MVP yet he’s a “clear-cut favorite” to win league MVP over guys like Peyton Manning and Drew Brees? Even less obvious names such as Chris Johnson, Steven Jackson, Maurice Jones-Drew and Larry Fitzgerald are better MVP candidates than Favre. Every one of these players means more singularly to his team than Brett does to the Vikings.

The Tennessee Titans win, Chris Johnson runs like the modern-day Barry Sanders only, gasp…faster. Nothing new to report here, right? Hold on, what’s that? Horrific Houston head coach Gary Kubiak ran a quarterback sneak to the center of the field to give his kicker a 49-yard field goal with a timeout and and time left to run another "real" play. What are you doing Gary? Do you realize that a 49-yard field goal is not automatic, and that missing a second long-distance, game-tying field goal might be career-threatening to the Texans longest tenured player Kris Brown? Are you that afraid of a Steve Slaton fumble that you chose to kick a 49-yard field goal over giving him one shot at getting you even three to five yards closer for Brown? You play to win the game Gary. What did you think would happen in overtime, Gary? Chris Johnson would have run the length of the field on your pathetic team in about 3 plays, that’s what would have happened. Run a play and either look to win the game or get your kicker in better position to win the game. Great job Gary!

…touchdown!


extra point…

The internet nerds are down on me due to this whole hot-linking issue. They are killing all my links, thus the lack of awesome visual backup in this issue of Necessary Roughness. I’m sorry geeks, I didn’t realize it was morally objectionable for me to steal pictures from you when you have so fairly stolen them from someone else first! Get real. Anything on the internet is public domain, anything! If you put your diary there, it’s public domain. It’s the internet. Don’t put things there that you don’t want people to rape every which way possible. Think of your intellectual property as your child and the internet as a posted convicted pedophile’s residence. If you don’t want your child/property abused, don’t let it near the pedophile’s house/internet. If anyone has any decent suggestions around such obstacles, I would be glad to hear them (internet geeks that is, not pedophiles).

…it’s good!


ps…

A happy Thanksgiving to all. I am thankful for football and you.

…great job!


18.11.09

Necessary Roughness, Week 10 in the NFL


NR presents

Week 10 in the NFL :
Bill Belichick goes head-to-head versus Peyton Manning in a game of Madden ’09 and loses

where…

…the Chiefs and Raiders participate in a crap fest!
…the Redskins turn the Broncos into their trusty steeds!
…OAK punter Shane Lechler punts 11 times for 531 yards (nets 484 yds, 48.3 avg)!
…Joe Addai leaves a blazing trail to the end zone like Marty McFly in the DeLorean!
…the Saints can win every type of game, even games they barely win against the Rams!
…all Brady Quinn news is now handled by the Metro section of the Cleveland Plain Dealer!
…BAL burned 3 timeouts midway thru the 1st qt and would have lost against an NFL team!

…beyond belief!


1st and 10…

Let’s get right to it:

Did Bill Belichick’s 4th and 2 decision fly in the face of traditional football logic? Yes.

Would Peyton have gotten a TD from 30, 60 or 90 yards with two minutes left in the game? Yes.

Now, I would have punted the ball if I was Belichick, but that doesn’t really matter. I also do not believe in giving a team points in strategy, but if you make the decision that Belichick made and it backfires, you must have Plan B ready. If you’ve already chosen to fly in the face of traditional football wisdom by electing not to punt, and the conversion is not successful, then your defense must allow the touchdown on the next play even if they have to drag Joe Addai across the goal line. This would have given Tommy Dimple Chin time to put together a frenzied drive, albeit without a timeout. It completely stinks as a game plan, and I truly believe that if Belichick had thought the decision through to Plan B, he would have punted the ball, but it is all revisionist history. What we need to remember when these two teams meet in the AFC Championship game is that Peyton Manning is now the one “in the head of” Bill Belichick.

In a nod to the slapstick football follies of yesteryear, the Cleveland Browns took the field for Monday Night Football and did not disappoint with a hilarious 10-man defense on the Ravens lone offensive touchdown. Instead of calling a timeout, head coach Eric Mangini and Browns defensive coordinator, The Dude, chose to comically point fingers at one another on the sidelines, followed by their offensive coordinator attempting to poke Mangini in both eyes but accidentally kicking Joshua Cribbs in the testicles instead when Mangini wedge-blocked the eye-poke. It was funny because it really hurts to get kicked in the testicles. The Vegas line on the 2009 Cleveland Browns versus the University of Louisiana Cougars (pre-Bobby Boucher) would be Cleveland +13 at FSU’s Bobby Bowden Field. Oh you Browns, you lovable bunch of completely dysfunctional lifelong losers! Great job!

The Bills have fired head coach Dick Jauron. What??? Does this mean that a 60-82 career record as a head coach, a 7-9 record for three straight seasons as Bills’ boss, a 3-6 record and 12 touchdowns scored offensively (after he fired his offensive coordinator one week before the regular season) through the 10th week of his fourth season and sole possession of the Lindy Infante branch of the head coaching tree doesn’t make Jauron a coaching superstar? Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell has been named interim (next to be fired) head coach. Perry Fewell has, among other things, been caught stealing once when he was five. He enjoys stealing. It’s just as simple as that. Well it’s just a simple fact. When he wants something, he doesn’t want to pay for it. He’ll walk right…through the door, yeah he’ll walk right through the head coaches door cause it’s his, his, his, all his…his, his, his all his. That’s right, a reference from 1990. Necessary Roughness is totally radical! I am the Chris Berman of my generation, minus 368 pounds.

For some people, football Sundays are just a romp on top of your desk with a 19-year-old student worker while you gaze at your hair in a compact mirror and ponder your inner deepness. These people are vapid douche bags and should have their giant, hook noses flattened against their cheeks. Hell, it may happen, who knows? For others, football Sunday and team marriage is a serious undertaking wrought with emotional and sometimes physical peril. Every win can be followed by a devastating loss, every loss followed by an improbable win. The peaks and valleys. We ride them out together. The peaks, as Chris McCandless realized, are nothing if not experienced with others, and the valleys (as we all know) are unbearable alone. Here’s to you, NFL fans. Week 10 and beyond is the reason chili tastes so delicious. It’s how Thanksgiving is complete. It’s the cold nip in the November air. It’s the reason we gather at 10 a.m. (PST) and scream like hell and carry on like lunatics for our favorite team and every other game happening on football Sunday. Great job!

…touchdown!


extra point…

Noted moron Jon Gruden has signed on to do Monday Night Football for years, and here I thought this was just an extended 15 week head coaching interview for Jonny. It really is time for President Obama to make this MNF situation one of his top priorities. We need nationalized MNF, and ESPN needs to be barred from broadcasting the National Football League. John Henry did not die with his hammer in his hand so that he could have cable to watch MNF. Football on Monday is an equal opportunity American ritual and it has been ripped from us by the grubby, genocidal hands of a Disney genropoly (monopoly across genres as it relates to sports, i.e. broadcast sports, hyper-journalism, sports movies and even sports franchising). They are baking the cake, charging cover at the door to get in to eat the cake, charging what they wish at the counter for the cake and then forcing us to pay them to tell us how much we enjoyed the cake. And the cake isn’t even good, but what choice do we have? We need to see across team allegiances to destroy MNF on ESPN. Colts fans and Pats fans, Cheese Heads and Dead Heads, from a Mile High to the depths of the Black Hole; unite! Can you dig it? We will not take this for another crappy broadcast. We are not okay with Ron Jaworski, Jon Gruden, “What’s Up” Stu Scott or Steve Young! We will do something that matters! This thought is a burning match tossed in the gas tank of your minds, we can come up with something! Can you dig it?

…it’s good!


ps…

That is super making up for last week when I shanked the extra point. You can call me a dancing Gramatica!

…great job!


11.11.09

Necessary Roughness, Week 9 in the NFL


NR presents

Week Nine in the NFL:
We all struggled to find some meaning in a Favre-less week


where…

this guy better not get caught winking at Larry Johnson!
…the Bears were exactly who Ken Whisenhunt thought they were!
…the Orangesicles play drip but don’t melt defense against Green Bay!
…Phil Rivers wins the battle versus Eli Manning, but loses the douche war!
…the Eagles receivers would have had a lot of catches if their feet were hands!
…we all knew this week was really the undercard for next week’s Colts/Pats matchup!
…fullback Mike Sellers was the top receiver with 56 yds in the WSH/ATL game! Great job!

…beyond belief!


1st and 10...

Cedric Benson is the first running back with two 100+ yard games in a season against the Baltimore Ravens since Jerome Bettis did it for Detroit in 1997. Now, it does need to be made clear that the ’97 Ravens lacked a certain “killer” mentality that helped them dominate the league in the early aughts. Ray Lewis had not yet committed any murders, so running backs (even fat, slow ones like Bettis) were free to run the field without fear of getting shanked. The ’97 Ravens were also missing a certain offensive guru genius at head coach. A mastermind whose well-oiled offense would have worked with such precision at such a blistering pace, that a running back with a badonka-donk would have been rendered useless the moment the Ravens offense took the field and promptly took the lead. You can’t play from behind two yards at a time now can you? No you cannot.

In the interest of full disclosure Tony Dungy, what exactly is your relationship with Mike Vick? Are you his agent? Have you adopted him? We know you are a studio analyst, is this a conflict of interests? Speaking of that Tony, we are well aware of your stance on homosexuality, do you have any idea what happens in prison? And do we really even care where Mike might or might not go? It’s an awful lot of attention being paid to a quarterback who really hasn’t been effective since ‘05 and was only truly great for one season in ‘02.

During their first possession of the second quarter, the Denver Broncos and previously unbeaten coaching sensation Josh McDaniels chose to break out their patented Wild Horse offense, and here’s how it worked out: Hotshot quarterback Kyle Orton shifted out into the slot receiver position for a brief moment before motioning back into to take a shotgun snap which he then threw directly to Tyrone Carter for a 48-yard interception return for a touchdown. Great job by all! Can we call the Wild(blank) offense over for every team other than Miami? Reggie Wayne does not need to attempt a touchdown pass for the Indianapolis Colts. They have a pretty highly paid quarterback equipped with a laser rocket arm to try things like that. Even in Miami, where they are trotting out motocross stuntmen to give it a try, the Wildcat is always shut down the second time around by the likes of the Patriots and Jets. It might be time to tie the Wildcat shut in a burlap sack with a couple of medium-sized rocks and throw the entire shrieking mess in the swift-moving currents of a very deep river.

Hey was that Steve Martin tussling with Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall on the Atlanta sidelines, or was it Martin Scorsese? Neither?!? It was Falcons coach Mike Smith, or as we call him around these parts, Steve Martin Scorsese. It’s an uncanny, Wheel of Fortune/Before and After esque, three-way celebrity look-a-like discovered by NFL fan Whitey Fisk. Everyone wins. Great job Whitey!

…touchdown!


extra point…

Shanked it, even the best miss one from time to time, or maybe this is just an impression of soon-to-be-ex-Ravens kicker, Steven Hauschka.

…no good!


abbreviated mid-season awards…

MVP: Peyton “Franken Berry” Manning. Brees is a distant second.

Offensive Player: Chris Johnson. He has the best shot at 2,000 yards rushing.

Defensive Player: Jared “Con Air” Allen (or Jared Conairen). Darren Sharper’s season seems too flukey at this point. It could all just dry up. Jared Conairen is insane.

Coach: Jeff Fisher, for putting on a Peyton Manning jersey and enraging his team to 8-8 or 9-7 and sniffing at a wild card late in the season.

…great job!


the divisions and wild cards…

AFC: IND, NE, PIT and SD
Wild Cards: CIN and DEN

NFC: NO, MIN, DAL and AZ
Wild Cards: PHI and ATL

…beyond belief!


blue doom crew midseason awards…

MVP: Tie, Big Al and Partridge. Signage. Power Rod. Snuggie. Fight song. Enough said.

MVP of Intangibles: Tie, Pat and Earl.

MVP of Orange Peeling: Katie.

MVP of Sounds: DJ Clarence Duffy, ya’ll.

MVP of The Roger Waters Sponsored Wish You Were Here Bowl: Tie between the following: Reaper King, Lisa Fay, JT, Candy Man and Sister.

Administrators of Food Distribution: The Fimmanos.

Supreme Queen of it all: Miss B. Through whom all things are possible.

…great job!

4.11.09

Necessary Roughness, Week 8 in the NFL


NR presents

Week Eight in the NFL:
Brett Favre walks into Favre Stadium in Wisfavrein as a Favresota Favreing and favres the Favre Bay Favres


where…

…Denver is undefeated? Nevermore!
…for an extended period of time, the Lions/Rams score was 3-2, Rams!
…the Colts enter their play-down-to-their-opponents part of the schedule!
…Eli ducked and dodged the Duracells whizzing by his head on the sidelines!
…Big Ben successfully didn’t rape anyone during his bye week. Great job Ben!
…Jake makes amends for the NFC Championship game with Kurt’s six turnovers!
…there was something important about the Packers/Vikings game, but I can’t remember!

…beyond belief!


1st and 10…

Red hot Tony Romo and scorching, magma hot Miles Austin are officially new BFF’s, and Jason Witten is none too pleased. Romo and Austin are now constantly by one another’s side during practice, in the showers and even going as far as to room together on road trips. That’s right, Tony dumped Jason as his road trip roommate to take up with Miles presumably to talk football strategy, invent secret plays and plan their next high-profile sexual conquests. Terrell Owens is very pleased, though Witten has yet to cry at a press conference, publicly eat popcorn or overdose on anti-depressants.

It is officially three weeks and counting before those petulant old puss bags from the 1972 Miami Dolphins could potentially start cheering for a Colts or Saints loss. The Colts actually have to play a game against a real football club this season, so listen up all you Saints fans:

At 10-0 it gets real, and that’s when various members of the ’72 Dolphins start sniping and squawking like shriveled, featherless baby birds.

At 12-0 they turn their collective unbearable dial to 11.

At 14-0 they begin icing champagne and gather at Bob Griese’s place to watch the game. Bob has a gold, crushed velvet davenport. You will wish that a gas main springs a leak and erupts into a fiery hell at Bob's place.

At 16-0, the remaining 1972 Dolphins begin to trade their dialysis machines in for portable heart defibrillators and, in a particularly contemptible act, swear public injury voodoo upon your quarterback and coach.

Don’t worry about anything after that. If the Saints get by Minnesota in the NFC Championship game, they will be annihilated by Indianapolis, New England or Pittsburg in the Super Bowl, and the whole thing will just be over.

The Saints/Falcons Monday Night game was really interesting from the kicking game perspective (and that is the first time “really interesting” and “kicking game” have appeared in the same sentence). Jason Elam and John Carney—with Elam starring—missed three field goals at the Superdome, two of them inside of the 40 yard line. Inside of a dome. Unreal. Carney is especially disappointing for his part since he has been doing this kicking thing since before the Tecmo Super Bowl in '91. Visored Saints head coach Sean Payton also broke new ground in the timeout arena; using his last of the game to ice the Falcons on a final, desperate onside attempt. An onside attempt can really only be run three ways, and Payton’s icing of the kicker showed the play the Falcons had chose to run. Pretty solid coaching Sean, great job, but you still wear a visor.

Why not get racy with this last down? Why can a tall, white pocket passer like Matt Ryan throw up a disgusting performance like Monday night, yet guys like Steve Young will go to bat for him afterwards and insist that he is still learning? He ran directly into a defensive lineman for a sack four times. Vince Young helps legitimize the Titans offense, Chris Johnson runs wild for a franchise record 228 yards and the Titans get their first win of the season in week eight, yet no mention of Vince after the fact. Let’s take it a step further. Jason Campbell gets slaughtered for his 29/43 for 284 yards, 2 TDs 1 pick performance under constant duress against the Eagles (a game in which his apparently healthy starting RB quit in the third quarter) and Alex Smith is actually considered adequate in a casual 19/32 for 198 yards, 1TD and 1 pick against the Colts? Make this make sense.

…touchdown!


extra point…

Owen Daniels' knee explosion is the direct karmic result of Gary Kubiak's junior-highish benching of Steve Slaton over his fumble issues. You don't bench your best playmaker over a fumble Gary, no matter what that Oompa Loompa, Mike Shanahan told you in the past. Of course Slaton will fumble now and then. He's 125 pounds and he runs like he's wearing a jet pack! It comes with the territory!! He can also bust a 95-yard bubble screen to the end zone in nine seconds!!!

…it’s good!